Mario del Monaco
The stentorian dramatic tenor of Mario del Monaco was heard throughout the world during the 1950s and 1960s. While often berated by critics for his unsubtle vocal production, del Monaco was a favorite of audiences who appreciated his power and sincerity of approach while tackling the heaviest roles in the Italian tenor repertory. A contract with Decca (London in the United States) produced a long series of recordings, many of them in partnership with Renata Tebaldi, and most of which have been reissued in CD format.
After having studied the early recordings of many tenors, del Monaco studied for a short time at the Pesaro Conservatory before gaining entry in 1935 to the school attached to the Rome Opera, largely through the urging of conductor Tullio Serafin. His formal debut occurred in 1941 at the Teatro Puccini as Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly -- while on leave from the army. Engagements were quickly forthcoming once WW II ended. A successful Radames (Aïda) at Verona was followed by appearances at Covent Garden with the Neapolitan Opera (Canio, Cavaradossi, and Pinkerton). Central and South America offered performances in Mexico City, at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires and in Rio de Janeiro.
His North American debut took place at the San Francisco Opera as Radames in 1950. He was thereupon engaged by Rudolf Bing for a November 1950 appearance at the Metropolitan as des Grieux in Manon Lescaut. Subsequently, he sang more than 100 performances at the Met over the course of seven seasons, appearing also at Chicago's Lyric Opera during the 1950s. In that time, del Monaco became the world's leading Otello, performing the role (according to his own tally) 427 times. Other roles which formed the core of his repertory included Enzo in Ponchielli's La Gioconda, the title role in Giordano's Andrea Chénier (next to Otello perhaps his most authoritative role), Don Alvaro in La forza del destino, Don José and Saint-Saëns' Samson (despite his less-than-fluent French), Verdi's Ernani, Dick Johnson in Puccini's La fanciulla del West and Pollione in Bellini's Norma. In Italy, he occasionally ventured into the Wagnerian repertory, although these performances were sung in Italian. He did, however, record Siegmund's "Winterstürme" from Die Walküre in German. It was not regarded as a success.
From the 1960s to his retirement from the stage in 1973, del Monaco increasingly confined his appearances to Italy, although he continued to record for Decca. His Loris in Giordano's Fedora (with Magda Olivero as the heroine) was taped when the singer was in his mid-fifties, by which time his voice had lost what little pliancy it had possessed earlier.
Among del Monaco's most prominent recordings are his two as Otello, each with the same principals (Tebaldi as Desdemona and Aldo Protti as Iago), but the second with Herbert von Karajan as conductor. His Andrea Chénier was preserved by Decca with Tebaldi as Maddalena and Ettore Bastianini as Gérard as well as in a live recording from Tokyo with Tebaldi and Protti.
The un-orthodox method of vocal production favored by del Monaco allowed him an overwhelming measure of strength in his middle and upper-middle registers, but lent a metallic buzz to his timbre and precluded his singing softly. Still, critics, following his death, rued his passing as they recalled performances of unsurpassed excitement.
© TiVo
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Verdi: La Forza del Destino
Renata Tebaldi, Mario del Monaco, Ettore Bastianini, Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale Di Santa Cecilia, Francesco Molinari-Pradelli
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on Jan 1, 1955
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Puccini: Tosca
Renata Tebaldi, Mario del Monaco, George London, Coro dell'Accademia Nazionale Di Santa Cecilia, Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale Di Santa Cecilia, Francesco Molinari-Pradelli
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on Apr 30, 1991
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Puccini: The Great Operas
Renata Tebaldi, Mario del Monaco
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on Jan 14, 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Puccini: Turandot
Inge Borkh, Renata Tebaldi, Mario del Monaco, Coro dell'Accademia Nazionale Di Santa Cecilia, Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale Di Santa Cecilia, Alberto Erede
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on Jan 1, 1955
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mascagni: Cavalleria Rusticana
Elena Souliotis, Mario del Monaco, Tito Gobbi, Chor Del Teatro Dell Opera Di Roma, Orchestra del Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, Silvio Varviso
Classical - Released by Decca (UMO) on Jan 1, 1967
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mario del Monaco: Decca Recitals 1952-1969
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on Jan 1, 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Puccini: La Fanciulla del West
Renata Tebaldi, Mario del Monaco, Cornell MacNeil, Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale Di Santa Cecilia, Franco Capuana
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on Jan 1, 1958
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Verdi: Otello
Renata Tebaldi, Mario del Monaco, Aldo Protti, Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra, Herbert von Karajan
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on Jan 1, 1961
The Qobuz Essential Discography16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bizet: Carmen
Regina Resnik, Mario del Monaco, Dame Joan Sutherland, Ernest Ansermet, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Thomas Schippers
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on Jan 1, 1963
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Verdi: Otello
Renata Tebaldi, Mario del Monaco, Aldo Protti, Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra, Herbert von Karajan
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on Jan 1, 1961
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Giordano: Andrea Chénier
Renata Tebaldi, Mario del Monaco, Ettore Bastianini, Fiorenza Cossotto, Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale Di Santa Cecilia, Gianandrea Gavazzeni
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on Jan 1, 1970
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Verdi: Otello
Renata Tebaldi, Mario del Monaco, Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale Di Santa Cecilia, Alberto Erede
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on Dec 8, 1954
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Ridi Pagliaccio Mario del Monaco interpreta Leoncavallo e il verismo
Classical - Released by UME - Global Clearing House on Oct 8, 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Verdi: Aida
Renata Tebaldi, Ebe Stignani, Mario del Monaco, Coro dell'Accademia Nazionale Di Santa Cecilia, Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale Di Santa Cecilia, Alberto Erede
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on Jan 1, 1952
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Verdi: Otello (Live in New York City, Recorded June 12, 1957)
Mario del Monaco, Leonard Warren, Victoria de los Angeles
Opera - Released by LRC Ltd. - Groove Merchant Records on May 12, 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Puccini: Tosca (highlights)
Renata Tebaldi, Mario del Monaco, George London, Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale Di Santa Cecilia, Coro dell'Accademia Nazionale Di Santa Cecilia, Francesco Molinari-Pradelli
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on Jan 1, 1959
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Verdi: Aida
Renata Tebaldi, Mario del Monaco
Opera - Released by Past Classics on Nov 13, 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mario del Monaco: Great Tenor Arias
Mario del Monaco, The New Symphony Orchestra of London, Alberto Erede
Vocal Recitals - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on Jan 1, 1959
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Verdi · il trovatore
Mario del Monaco, Renata Tebaldi, Alberto Erede, Orchestre Du Grand Theatre De Geneve
Classical - Released by G.O.P. on Feb 28, 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Zandonai: Francesca da Rimini – Excerpts (Opera Gala – Volume 20)
Magda Olivero, Mario del Monaco, Nicola Rescigno
Classical - Released by Universal Music Australia Pty. Ltd. on Nov 13, 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Verdi · la forza del destino
Renata Tebaldi, Mario del Monaco, Francesco Molinari-Pradelli, Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale Di Santa Cecilia
Classical - Released by G.O.P. on Jan 31, 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo